Rupert Wyatt Reveals Fantastic Four Messed With His Gambit Script

In June 2015, Rupert Wyatt signed on to direct Gambit with Channing Tatum set to star as the title character. Filming was set to star in New Orleans in the fall of 2015 but before cameras could roll, Wyatt left the film revealing a clash with another project. Now, speaking with The Beat, the director has revealed that the Fantastic Four debacle changed Fox’s plans and that led to his early departure from the project.

“I was very close with Channing Tatum and his producing partner Reid Carolin, and I was on the script with him and Josh Zetumer as a writer,” Wyatt said. “We were close, I believe 10 weeks away. It simply came down to budget. There was not enough. You know all too well about the politics of the business. Fantastic Four had been released by Fox a month before and had not gone well for them, so our budget was slashed quite considerably. The inevitable, from my perspective was, ‘Well then we need to rewrite the script to tailor to our budget,’ but we were too close to a start date for Fox to really want to go there, so unfortunately, it just didn’t work out.”

Additionally, Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) praised Tatum’s plans for Gambit.

“All I know is Channing had a really, really wonderful idea for what that film could and should be,” Wyatt added. “I know he and Reid are still plugging away at it, so I hope in the new Disney era, that then they get to make it.”

At the moment, Gambit is on hold until Disney’s acquisition of Fox is complete. What do you think about Rupert Wyatt’s revelations? Let us know in the comment section below.